Author: Cynthia C Harris

She is a self-described Writer/ Performance Artist/ Dancer/ Activist/ Health Educator/ and proud southerner. A natural sign watcher, very much in tune with her surroundings, Ms. Harris finds it almost impossible not to hear the stories hovering around people. Growing up in a multi-talented family, she always felt at peace pursuing her creative interests. However when it came time to choose a career, Cynthia chose to focus on her parallel interest in health and graduated from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University with a BS in biology in 1999. Her subsequent work in the field of women’s reproductive health research fed her appreciation for the analytical and gave her the opportunity to study human behavior, leading her to not only be a vocal advocate for women’s health issues, but to create stories of empowerment. Ms. Harris developed her weaving voices technique as she deepened her understanding of the intersection of performance art and public health. In 2017, Ms. Harris completed her Master of Public at Tennessee State University. In 2018, How to Catch a Flying Woman premiered and was commissioned in 2019 by Nashville Public Library. In 2022, The Calling is in the Body debuted with Actors Bridge Ensemble.
Creative Writing

The Inspectors

Cynthia C Harris

 This is an excerpt from Phrases of Womanhood.  The section focuses on the absurdity of our body image obsessions.

 Recorded Voice or Audience Read: Before starting your day you must prepare for the world around you.  It is tough out there ladies.  Put on your armor.  Get your daily shield protection.  Find your place

Inspector #1:

It is time to put your faces on and pull it together Ladies.  Ready for inspection in 5, (dancers hurry to put their t-shirts on using the same character descriptions above) counting 5…4…3…2…1

Inspector #2:

Ladies, ladies, ladies, this will never do. 

 Inspector #1

We do not assign these uniforms randomly.  It takes considerable energy to have them perfectly fitted for each and every one of you.  Not to mention that some of you grow out of them or intentionally try to “misplace” them.

Inspector #2

Proper care of these uniforms must be taken to guarantee your appropriate rank is clearly displayed at all times. 

Inspector#1

Please resist the urge to personalize your uniforms.  They are in your care but, ARE NOT to be considered personal property. 

 The Inspectors begin individual inspections.  Making notes on clipboards as they examine each dancer.  They reach “ TOO SMALL”.

 Inspector # 1 (to Inspector # 2)

Inspector what did we cite this one for last time?

 Inspector #2

(Checks chart)  Let me see… ah yes.  We pointed her out for shame and ridicule because her bra size is 32B. (Stares at the dancers chest.)  And by the looks of it, a B- cup may be a bit of an exaggeration.

 Inspector #1:

32 B, (takes a moment to look her over) you are looking a little better today. 

 Inspector #2

Good to see you took our advice and invested in a good push-up bra.

 Inspector #1

Though these little bras are only temporary. 

Inspector #2

And once you take them off, you go back to well…. Nothing.

Inspector #1

I think you should consider simple corrective surgery for this particular deformity.

 Inspector #2

Oh, Absolutely. 

Inspector #1

Saline Implants could take you up to a DD-cup easily.  You really can’t say you’ve made any improvements until you develop a curvature of the spine. 

Inspector#2

It’s simply not feminine to be that flat chested.  You don’t want to go around looking like an adolescent boy, do you?

 Inspector #1

Do you?

Inspector #2: They move on to other dancers until they reach another the woman “TOO OLD”.

(checks chart) Mid to Late 30s.  mmmhhmmm…(making notes on her chart)

 Inspector #1:

mmmhhmmm… (Making notes on her chart)

 Inspector #2:

mmmhhmmm. Inspector #1 is this one married yet?  I don’t see any of that information in her chart here. 

Inspector #1:
(Searches clip board, eyes widen in horror)  NO!

Inspector #1 and Inspector #2 (at the same time):

Oh My!

Inspector #2

Mid to late 30s, and you’re not married yet. 

Inspector #1

Being this old and unmarried really only works for men dear.  It’s just not appropriate for a woman.

 Inspector #2

Start clipping coupons for Cat Food and Ensure, cause Honey, you’re well on your way to spinsterhood. 

(Inspector #1 & Inspector #2 share an annoying laugh together)

Inspector #1

Look Ladies, don’t you want to be beautiful like everybody else?

 Inspector#2

Don’t you want people to like you?

Inspector#1

Don’t you want to partner up with somebody so you can put all the hassles of thinking for yourself on somebody else’s shoulders?

 Inspector# 2

Lord help us all. I’m glad we caught all these errors today.  We can get you all started on a plan that will get you in total bondage I mean bliss in no time.

 Inspector#1

Oh yes absolutely! But how shall we customize for women in such a state of distress?  

(Inspector #1 & Inspector #2 pause to think)

 Inspector#2

If you were between the ages of 8 and 11, we would have the time it takes to thoroughly eat away at your self-esteem. 

Inspector#1

Eating disorders can be good for quick weight loss, but it takes so much time to really make a good eating disorder stick.  And TIME is what we have the least of!

 Inspector #2

It is not enough to be concerned about the way you appear to others.  It must be your first and only thought always.  After all, the way other people perceive you is really all that matters. 

Inspector#1

It is too late and entirely too much work, to slowly change your diet and increase your level of activity (said in a different voice as if imitating and mocking someone). That health nut mumbo jumbo is pure foolishness anyhow.

Inspector#2

Diet pills and Liposuction are the only way to go.  Try a little Laser rejuvenation for your lady friend, if you are really feeling fancy.

Inspector#1

Inspector, do you remember what’s her name?

Inspector#2

No girl, be more specific.

Inspector#1

You know what’s her name with the ….and all the ….

 Inspector#2

Oh yes I remember now, you mean …

Inspector#1

That’s the one.  Ladies, I tell you after her reconstructive surgery, well if she had survived her reconstructive surgery, she would have been drop dead gorgeous.

Inspector#1

I guess in the end she was drop dead gorgeous.

 (Inspector #1 & Inspector #2 share an annoying laugh)

 Inspector#2

Where are all my smiling faces? You all look pitiful!

 Inspector#1

Let’s not make this any harder than it needs to be.  Not that I encourage this, but if you are so dead set on being “HAPPY”, it comes in an assortment of vices now; you can pop it, sniff it, smoke it, shoot it, or drink it.

Inspector #2

Sweethearts, there are a number medications available by prescription, over the counter, or from your local narcotics dealer, that can take all your worries away.  

Inspector#1

Stop trying to paddle upstream.  Just go with the flow, like everybody else.

 Inspector #2

Trust us.  We know what we are telling you. 

Inspector #1

If you take our suggestions, without question, you’ll be just fine. 

 (Inspector #1 & Inspector #2 share their annoying laugh again)

Events

In the Company of Women

Cynthia C Harris

On August 31st, I was delighted by the feeling of welcome when I entered our gathering space.  The room was already set up in a circle of chairs with participants smiling from their seats, offering warm hellos; a welcome contrast to the sight of armed guards and the sound of locking doors behind me. We jumped right into the workshop, which was a variation of the standard Healing Waters House Party.  The workshop was adjusted to accomodate the large groups of attendants, as a typical House Party has a maximum attendance of 15.  We took time in the beginning to breathe together and to bring our good energy and intention into the circle. 

In preparing our group to perform, we played a few important theater based warm up activities.   We  listened to easy Cuban sound of Omara Portuondo as we “Covered the Space.”  We let the music guide our bodies around the room, then after freezing in place we imagined a scene in our heads that the movement inspired. Next we moved “Across the Circle”, powerfully saying our names as we locked eyes with a person across the circle, then moved to take that persons space.  The activities connected easily to our conversation on maintaining a safe space for creative play, highlighting what would be and would not be welcome in our space. 

Soon it was time for reading.  The four main characters of  “Why Won’t She Leave?” were divided into three parts, giving us a total of 12 readers for the performance.  All the other workshop  participants were responsible for reciting the part of  The Chorus.  It was powerful to hear a room full of women reciting the lines…

“She is so pretty and so smart.  She can have any man she wants.  Why Won’t She Leave?”

The reading was awesome.  The actor/participants quickly found the rhythm of the piece and fell effortlessly  into character, ones they’d only been introduced to moments before.  We used a combination of large group processing and mini-sessions, so that  participants could discuss the feelings that came up however they were most comfortable.    We closed with a panel of experts from the group, modelling for the rest of us how we might provide social support for a woman in our life having a story similar to that of  the main character.  Participant feedback from the workshop is listed below.

 For more information about the event and participant feedback, click  here

Uncategorized

Supporting the Brilliance of Black Women

Cynthia C Harris

How can you adequately support the BRILLIANCE of BLACK WOMEN?

1. Release the assumption that farming out our time, thinking, contributions, relationships, resources and hard work is natural or appropriate.

2. Fairly compensate Black Women for everything we do, using the commonly accepted currency.

3. Recognize and support our leadership.

4. When you hear the brilliance flow from our mouths, do not then ask us to turn that over to the next, more appropriate male so that he might then get the most out of what we have created

Uncategorized

Black Women and Visibility pt.1

Cynthia C Harris

This blog excerpt comes from my post on the Southern Honey Pilgrimage.  I was thinking, as I often do, about how exposed I feel everytime I am plain speaking, describing a thing as it is.  

I understand the power and necessity of Black women telling their stories, but for me there is always a bit of hesitancy.  It is as though the internalized oppressive beliefs about visibility and appropriateness get kicked up and suck breath and words from my mouth.  I feel the need to stay quiet, so as not to draw attention to myself.  I feel that though, I am speaking my truth, and know that I am having a common experience, I am not supposed to speak about it, and if the experience is to be spoken about, then there must be someone more appropriate to tell the story than I.  So in these fearful moments, I remember the truth.  I know that I am the best and only person to tell the stories I know.  In order to thrive Black women must be able to speak openly about life as we know it.

Cynthia C Harris

ART|HEALTH|LIBERATION

Creative Writing, Uncategorized

Requiem for a Lullaby

Cynthia C Harris

This performance text was written a few years ago.   It is one of my favorite pieces.  The first section is read as a lullaby to a young girl.  The second portion is read as a reporter.   The piece remarks on how views of women’s virtue, worth or goodness are fed to us as propognada to control us, but can betaken away or questioned at any timein order to protect masculinity. 

Little girls hate yourselves and all other women for being born female. 
Your emotion makes you inferior. 
Trusting your intuition makes you weak.
Sleep peacefully tonight knowing that you will never ever quite be …enough. 

You’ll have a mate that will never love you as much as he loves his boys. 
His homoerotic utopia is far more rewarding than anything he could feel with you. 
He has been taught to have no respect for women. 
The culture that feeds him reinforces that ideal in his religion,
in his educational system,
and in all the media information he consumes. 

 Don’t try to run away. 
Where will you go? 

 Its inevitable you’ll fall for a man who has never been held accountable for his actions and feelings. 
One that thinks the world owes him something. 
And that he is free to take out his frustrations on you. 
Banging, stabbing, hitting, beating up your womb until he figures out what that something is.

If you’re lucky you’ll get a pet name like “wifey” or “main bitch”. 
He might have sex with those other girls but he only loves you. 
He’ll look to you to fulfill the roles of wife and mother whether or not children are present. 
Forget about all that self-love crap and get yourself a ring girl.  
Many of your friends won’t be so lucky.  They will grow old alone.

 BUT you can say to world with pride that you got a man that takes care of his responsibilities.  He keeps a job and comes home at night, well eventually. 

And that should be just enough to keep you smiling for years and years to come. 

 In 5…4…3…2…1… you’re on

 Good afternoon.  I am reporting to you live from the Kobe Bryant…Mike Tyson…Robert Kelly community support rally?  I apologize, I’m not sure who the “Black Community” has been asked to come together and support this afternoon.  All we know is that a man with a very large amount of money and therefore very large amount of power wants us to overlook a major felony or other minor male indiscretion committed against a woman such as: sexual assault, abuse, stalking, intimidation, restraint, or harassment. 

 Today’s rally is being led by a large jewel encrusted man in a candy hued suit.  From this distance he appears to be, a pimp, a rapper, a preacher, or possibly even a candidate for the 2008 Democratic Party.

 Until today while Mr. So and So, as the unidentified celebrity will now be referred, continues to avoid the press and live a somewhat regular life; the alleged victim has been fired from her job.  Supervisors claim that her negative publicity has affected their business.  She’s also had to vacate her apartment, as the swarms of reporters have made it impossible to secure her privacy or safety. 

Pardon me one second ladies and gentlemen…

 I’ve just been informed that angry mobs are on stand by to send hate mail and plaster the Internet with the alleged victim’s personal information.  One website, www.shewantedit.com, has received several thousand hits after being up and running for only two days. The website uses the alleged victim’s photograph with the caption, “you know she wanted it” in large flashing letters.   The website also includes pornographic images of women in submissive positions and links to a variety of other adult websites.

 The general public, with the exception of a few lesbians a hand full of feminists and some dead Latina’s grandmother, have sided with Mr. So and So.  Popular opinion is that Mr. So and So, quote “seems innocent” and “looks sorry.”  In response to recent events, one particularly concerned citizen states “why Mr. So and So need to take some pussy from somebody? He got so much money, bitches is trippin over theyselves to get in his face.  Hell push come to shove he can buy the pussy before he gotta rape somebody.” 

 Rest easy tonight America, our paternalistic oppressive systems are indeed intact. 

Maleness still equals power.

Sexism continues to be internalized.

Goodnight and God Bless.

 

 Cynthia C Harris

ART|HEALTH|LIBERATION

 

 

 

Uncategorized

Thoughts on Black Women’s Health

Cynthia C Harris

 

   The core health issues facing Black women are racism, sexism, classism.   These issues are at their core related to resource scarcity, kept in place by not only violence, but the threat of violence.  These oppressive social forces create a complex dynamic of chronic stressors, which are mirrored in the bodies of Black women as a variety of chronic diseases and patterns of unhealthy behavior.  In order for these systems of oppression to have impact, they must influence the choices that Black women make in relation to their health.  Choice in this instance is complex and layered.             

              Oppressive hierarchies are maintained so that certain humans may rationalize denying certain other humans full access to the resources necessary to thrive.  Justification for the hoarding of resources must be widely accepted by those in the position to oppress and internalized by those oppressed.  These justifications are naturalized through stereotypes. These stereotypes depoliticize this power imbalance and create an environment of victim blaming.  The choices Black women make about their health are carefully controlled by political representatives ignoring policies that obstruct Black women’s access to care; community leaders disregarding the needs of physical and emotional safety for Black women; and health service providers communicating through their practices that Black women deserve poor health. 

              I think it is impossible to be a Black American woman and not have an interest in Black women’s health.  It is impossible to ignore how cancer, diabetes and heart disease seem to inevitably plague the women among our families and friends.  There is, perhaps not an expectation, but a lack of surprise when sexist and racist portrayals of us as rightfully overworked and under resourced, follow us into our homes and intimate relationships.  We are expected to conform to the rigid and heavily policed expectations on our lives.  All Black women are in the middle of a delicate balancing act – between offering up our intelligence, creativity, bodies, and resources for supposed safety in traditional hierarchies; and the vilified search for authentic expression, pleasure and vibrant health.  My interest in Black women’s health is a dedication to dismantling this dichotomy of self vs. safety – invisibility and silence vs. affirmation and community support.  I am committed to venture into these unsafe territories of self discovery, to uncover new modes of relating to the world around us so that we can safely exist.  This interest is first personal, and essential to my own liberation.  However, I feel a sense of vocational call to do this liberatory work in a manner that is visible and public, so that the brilliance uncovered may be shared among all Black women. 

              A leader in the field of Black women’s health is an outspoken advocate for black women, whose core belief is that all Black women are fully human, brilliant, capable and simply in need of support and resources to improve their lives.  Leadership requires a consistent commitment to challenge internalized oppressive messages in the daily fight against the misinformation suggesting that only some Black women are worthy of their human rights.  A leader must analyze her boundaries and biases to seek opportunities to strengthen women’s intraracial relationships, inclusive of queer women and women across age, ability, class, and regional differences.  She must have an unrelenting belief in the abundance of resources and a vigilance for scarcity based ideologies that drive all forms of oppression. 

              Being a leader in the field of black women’s health, demands an understanding of social movements relevant to black women’s well being and how these created change through legislation, policy, and the resulting service providing agencies.  While valuing these advances, a leader in Black women’s health will also have a sharp analysis of how tokenism, assimilation and homophobia have hindered Black leadership in the past and undermined the efficacy of resources and services that might address the totality of black women’s experiences.  A leader in black women’s health, with a vision for the future, will be willing to explore and promote alternative organizing strategies.  She will incorporate new media formats and social marketing as viable opportunities for organizing, network building and cross community information sharing.    Most importantly a leader in black women’s health will understand the importance of sharing power horizontally, and knows lasting change is made when the full range of experience of Black women’s live are acknowledged and their human rights respected.